Sainte-Catherine Street: A Montreal Street Profile

TripSavvy / Taylor McIntyre

Going Car-Free

Once a year, downtown retailers spill out onto the pavement for Sainte-Catherine Street's annual ​sidewalk sale, which covers three-quarters of the street's shopping mecca. According to organizers, it's the biggest open-air sale event of its kind in Canada given its 300,000 shoppers and 300 participating merchants, restaurants. and assorted vendors.

But the Sainte-Catherine Street sidewalk sale isn't the only occasion the downtown Montreal thoroughfare shines on pedestrians. Several blocks of Sainte-Catherine Street in the Gay Village ​shut down car traffic in the spring and summer to make way for live entertainment, festivals, sidewalk sales, and more.

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Sainte-Catherine Street Fair

Jeangagnon/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0

Considered the largest sidewalk sale in Canada, the Sainte-Catherine Street sidewalk sale is more than just an excuse to indulge in deep discounts on end-of-season inventory.

The Choir

The Accueil Bonneau choir is composed of homeless men helped by Accueil Bonneau's meal, clothing, and hygiene services as well as its social reinsertion programs. At the Sainte-Catherine Street sidewalk sale in 2011, the choir sang a variety of classic tunes, including Quebec icon Gerry Boulet's Toujours Vivant. That's French for "still alive."